...And no one really cares.
Last year, I had a fairly good excuse to mostly ignore the preseason, what with my son having just been born. The year before that, the lockout and shortened season that ensued ensured that we had no preseason.
This year, with no other excuses, I just have to be honest with you: The preseason is garbage and I can't bring myself to give a shit about it. And now they're doing this split-squad bullshit to try and make me pay attention to two meaningless games in one night? No, fuck off, NHL.
But maybe you do care about the preseason. Maybe your life is an empty, lonely void and exhibition games filled up largely with players you'll never see on your team again is the only thing that brings your life meaning in late September.
That's pathetic and you're pathetic, but for your sake here are the games relevant to the Battle of California theme over the next week:
Every Preseason Game Where the Ducks, Sharks, or Kings Face-Off Against One Another
| DATE | VISITING TEAM | HOME TEAM | TIME |
| THU SEP 25, 2014 | ANAHEIM | LOS ANGELES | 7:30 PM PT |
| SAT SEP 27, 2014 | ANAHEIM | SAN JOSE | 5:00 PM PT |
| SUN SEP 28, 2014 | LOS ANGELES | ANAHEIM | 5:00 PM PT |
| TUE SEP 30, 2014 | LOS ANGELES | SAN JOSE | 7:30 PM PT |
| SAT OCT 4, 2014 | SAN JOSE | ANAHEIM | 7:00 PM PT |
The September 25th game between LA and Anaheim will be shown nationally on the NHL Network, which will be watched by just about no one.
Obviously each team has other preseason games they'll be playing that don't involve other California teams, but let's be serious, if I can barely bring myself to pretend to care about the NHL preseason, I'm certainly not going to be able to muster up a shit about the games involving the inferior states.
I'll leave you with some wisdom from Winging it in Motown's JJ (he's from Kansas, I hear):
Just remember the preseason mantra: Did we win? - WOO STANLEY CUP HERE WE COME BABY! Did we lose? - PRESEASON IS MEANINGLESS!
— Winging It In Motown (@wingingitmotown) September 22, 2014